of Paris, AR

August 4, 1922 - February 15, 2005

The consummate conversationalist, Don Heathcott never met a stranger nor missed an opportunity to tell a story. Heathcott died Tuesday, February 15, 2005, in his beloved hometown of Paris, Arkansas. Born in Driggs, Arkansas in 1922, Heathcott was 82 years old.

Building three different careers over his lifetime, Heathcott flirted often with politics. For nearly 60 years, he worked tirelessly for numerous local and statewide candidates---from both sides of the aisle. In 1970 he ran unsuccessfully for Mayor of Jacksonville as an independent candidate.

Above his careers and infatuation with politics, Heathcott's true love was antique automobiles. In the sixties and seventies, he bought, re-stored, and sold hundreds of Model A Ford cars and trucks. By the eighties, the Model As had all but disappeared from the landscape, so Heathcott adopted the Ford Falcon as his new interest. For more than 25 years Falcon fans and collectors came from far and wide to purchase used parts from Heathcott in efforts to rebuild their own beloved antique. Some believe that Heathcott actually gave away more antique auto parts than he ever sold, determining that "making a friend" was much more important in life than "making a sale".

Heathcott and his wife, the former Nel Harrison, also of Paris, raised four children together. He is survived by Nel and three of the four children, Larry Heathcott of Mt. Magazine, Gary Heathcott of Little Rock, and Patricia McLain of Jacksonville. He was preceded in death by a son, Travis Heathcott of Little Rock. He had nine grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. Heathcott is also survived by a brother, Gwendel Heathcott of Charleston and a sister, Beatrice Butler of Santa Barbara, California.

Funeral services will be held at 2pm on Thursday, February 17 at Roller Chapel-Paris with burial at a later date in Oakwood Cemetery-Paris under the direction of Roller Funeral Home-Paris (staff,paris@rollerfuneralhomes.com)

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